Kaelis Menshad
Kaelis Menshad is Archon of The Dark Oaths, the most devious rival Kabal of the Skewering Feather. He's known for his intense disloyalty and his deep "liking" of stealth and terror tactics. He's been constantly been labeled as dead, but has reappeared multiple times in Commorragh's history, and has even appeared recently in the Nexus of Shadows spreading his influence through the outcast Dark Eldar. Kaelis Menshad, because of an experience in his lifetime, has a special relationship with Mandrakes. History Servitude and Freedom Being a Halfborn, a Dark Eldar that was grown in a vat, Kaelis never knew the power that Trueborns such as his Lord have. He was a weakling, a maggot, something to walk on for his more "superior" Masters. He was a slave who wasn't even thought of as another Dark Eldar, he was a doormat to be used to wipe one's feet. Kaelis was born into servitude for the House Luvt, and it's Kabal the Flayed Flesh. Having been a personal servant to the young heir of House Luvt's Throne, a Silinurl Luvt, Kaelis was exposed to the punishments of disappointing his easily disappointed young master. Almost daily Kaelis was subject to having to run through the grounds of High Commorragh, staying out of the sight of the Scourges his young masters favorite creatures. For every injury his young master obtained via his adventures, Kaelis would have to inflict upon himself tenfold. For every problem that his young master had to deal with, Kaelis had to have a solution for. Eventually his young master grew up into what all Dark Eldar children expire to be, a Kabalite Warrior. Kaelis had to polish his armor, weaponry, and equipment every day making sure that it shined brightly. If Kaelis failed to ensure his master's belongings shined then he was sent straight to the Haemonculi to be put on the brink of death for days upon days. Eventually his master fled his House, becoming a scourge to free himself from the ground like his family, and Kaelis was given the opportunity to escape. Realizing that if he returned to his Owner, Silinurl's father, without his master he would be killed Kaelis fled into Low Commorragh hiding within the Dark Alleys to ensure that his Owner's Assassins wouldn't find him and end his life. There in the black, dank abyss Kaelis finally met the things that haunted his master's dreams as a child the creepers, better known as Mandrakes. Fleeing these creatures, Kaelis hide among their numbers for days constantly being chased deeper and deeper into the Abyss until he came upon a forgotten Webway Portal. Entering this forgotten portal to escape his Mandrakian Predators, Kaelis came upon the forgotten realm of Mez'liah. Wandering for days in the eternal blackness of Mez'liah, Kaelis lay on the brink of death. His bones shaking, his skin quivering, and his soul screaming Kaelis refused to allow She Who Thirsts to take him. Taking to his feet, Kaelis strode through the darkness to reapproach the portal and reenter Low Commorragh to confront his Mandrakian Stalkers. Leaping at them and attacking them with the brutality an average dark eldar wouldn't show, the Mandrakes accepted him as one of their own and entered the black pits of Mez'liah to await the commands of their newfound Nightfiend. The Cleansing of Low Commorragh After escaping slavery in the Skewering Feather's Fortress, Kaelis moved into Low Commorragh to begin his long-termed plan of killing Archon Luvt of the Skewering Feather. Living in the dark alleys of Commorragh, Kaelis gained a reputation as a Dark Eldar capable of "taming" Mandrakes. Kaelis after years of planning, moved himself and his Mandrakian Kin into River Khaïdes. This polluted waterway winds around and through the outer districts of central Corespur, shrouded in subterranean darkness and wreathed in mist. Above the toxic surface of the foul river drift thin grav-craft bedecked in faded grandeur. The sorry hosts of these craft earn what little they can by hooking corpses from the Khaïdes and selling them as slave-food. Taking advantage of the Corpse Fishers low status in Commorragh, Kaelis was able to gain a large following of them by offers of power. Because of the Corpse Fishers role as food providers for slaves, Kaelis was able to gain a influence over numerous slaves to gather information about the Kabals he had picked out as targets for his wrath. The lesser Kabals riddle the extremities of the angular black spires with opportunistic growth. Taking advantage of the sheer chaos that these multiple Kabals caused by attempting to to kill and take over each other, Kaelis was able to gain influence over pre-determined Kabals by selling them the services of his Mandrake Kin. With his kin planted within the Kabals, Kaelis was able to move onto his third stage influencing the Kabalite Members of the Kabals. Threatening countless Kabalite Members with assassination via his Kin, Kaelis was able to gain a greater foothold on the Kabals, allowing him to move to his fourth stage of planning spreading his influence in Sec Maegra. The mercenary district of Sec Maegra is found further coreward, and is more popularly known as Null City; a nation-sized shanty town permanently riven by civil war. The permanent smell of cordite hangs over the roofs of the shanties, and every few minutes fresh screams pierce the silence. The scorched streets resound with solid-shot gunfire and the crack-spit of Splinter Rifles at night, as negotiations and assassinations turn out badly. Planting even more agents into the eternal Civil War of Sec Maegra, and hiring multiple mercenaries to work with numerous Kabals, Kaelis was able to gain even more hidden influence over countless Kabals. With thousands of Kabalite Members in thousands of Kabals, and countless mercenaries working for those Kabals, Kaelis was ready to put his plan into action. Kaelis set forth in motion, a devastating blow against the Kabals he had his agents infiltrate and then launched his signal to begin the attack. The numerous Kabalite Members he had influenced rose up against their Archons and overran their remaining loyal servants before slaughtering every single trueborn in every Kabal they were fighting. The Mercenaries who were so well payed by the Kabals betrayed their employers, killing them swiftly. With countless Kabals destroyed, Kaelis took his new found servants and marched them into the forgotten realm of Mez'liah, to plot his next attack against Commorragh. Start of The Dark Oaths After the Cleansing of Low Commorragh Kaelis Menshad and his numerous followers retreated into the Black Pits of Mez'liah to establish themselves as the Kabal of the Dark Oaths. Before being able to establish himself as Archon of the Dark Oaths, Kaelis gathered his followers into the deepest and blackest and forced them to take a Oath. This Oath was of undying loyalty to Kaelis Menshad, with the punishment of breaking this Oath being cast out and hunted by Kaelis' Mandrakian Kin. After ensuring every single one of his followers took his Oath, Kaelis began to spread words to his allies he had gained before he performed a cleansing of low Commorragh that he was starting a Kabal and was offering alliances to other Kabals. These allies began to spread the word, that a powerful Kabal was seeking allies with lesser Kabals and was willing to empower it's Vassel Kabals greatly if they joined the Dark Oaths willingly. Hundreds of nameless Kabals flocked to the Mez'liah in hopes of obtaining the imaginary power of the Dark Oaths. Tracking through Mez'liah for days while being picked off by Mandrakes and Dark Oath Kabalite Warriors, these Kabals were forced into the deepest pit of Mez'liah were they too were forced to partake in a Oath to Kaelis. The Archons of these nameless Kabals accepted fearing for their pitiful lives. After the assimilation of these Kabals, Kaelis yet again told his allies to spread the word that he was seeking allies within the Haemonculi and Wych Cults. Only one Faction within Commorragh answered Kaelis' call for more allies, the Haemonculi Coven of The Shifting Spirits. Taking Kaelis up on his call for allies, the small Haemonculi Coven agreed to be Eternal Allies with the Dark Oaths. After ensuring the Coven had a proper lab to conduct their experiments, Archon Kaelis began to spread his influence even further throught the Markets of Commorragh becoming a major provider of goods such as slave food, weapons, and armor. Kaelis' name soon became widely whispered through out River Khaïdes and Aelindrach. With Kaelis' influence growing through the River Khaïdes and Aelindrach Menshad has been able to gain a tighter grip on Low Commorragh and it's numerous Kabals. Personality Unlike most Dark Eldar, Kaelis shows no fear of Slaanesh or death. Although having no fear of death or She Who Thirsts, Kaelis is not one to "dance with death" and is just as cautious as his other Kin. Because of his nature as a half born, Kaelis knows the troubles of how difficult it is for Half-borns in Commorragh and because of his connection with his fellow Half-Kin he can easily influence the lesser of most societies. Kaelis shows a variety of traits that other Dark Eldar don't share such as not showing intense greed, gluttony, and lust. Instead Kaelis shows a even deeper need to betray his fellow then other Dark Eldar. He prefers the shadows and prefers to work behind the "curtains" instead of basking in the spotlight like other Dark Eldar. Relations Allies (Feel free to add your own) Berheven Jirlis A rouge Eldar thief working for personal reasoning. Berheven holds a strong respect for the methodology of Kaelis, even if he dislikes Kaelis's Dark Eldar tastes. Working together the two had successfully eliminated several lesser threats to Kaelis, and even now the Archon plans to use the thief as a weapon against their mutual enemy. Enemies (Feel free to add your own) Appearance Kaelis Menshad shares the common traits of the Dark Eldar, being lithe and tall, which allows him to blend even better within the crowds of Commorragh and the Nexus of Shadows. He has grey hair, with ghostly pale skin. He has numerous scars and eldar runes across his body, most of them being on his torso. In the rare moments when he is in the "spotlight" Kaelis keeps his armor, or atleast his helmet, on at all times to protect against people recognizing him. Like the daemonic Mandrakes he surrounds himself with, Kaelis has the type of appearence that just lets him blend in so well with his surrounding. Skills and Equipment Skills Kaelis Menshad is a masterful swordsmen and is a excellent duelist, able to easily best a foe in single combat. Although able to hold his own in single-combat Kaelis prefers stealth over fighting head on, preferring to slink in the shadows and kill someone in a swift blow. Kaelis, being a half-born who escaped from slavery, is a master of stealth and is known to have an special relationship with Mandrakes. Kaelis has been known to show a brutality in fighting only seen by Khornates, Orks, and Mandrakes. Kaelis' observation skills were regarded highly during his time as a slave in House Luvt, and his time as Archon has done nothing but improve them/ Equipment Clone Field - This device projects several hologram-like images of Kaelis, all identical in every aspect and moving in perfect synchrony. This device allows Kaelis in the rare moments when he goes "head to head" with his opponents to confuse and distract them enough to allow him to place a single deadly blow. Archon Battle Suit - Kaelis' battlesuit is a thin, light-weight flexible bodysuit, pressurized to allow him to traverse the vacuum of space. Just like standard-issue Eldar suits, it can respond to neural impulses from Kaelis and harden on command, allowing him to shrug off civilian-grade firepower, but requiring him to rely on his superior abilities and quick reflexes to survive the engagement against better equipped targets. Kaelis' battle suit also has the unique capability to allow him to absorb light directed at him, allowing him to meld into any darkness and vanish from sight. Lightslayer - Lightslayer, is a unique sword of unknown origins. This sword has a strange blade with what appears to be pure energy enabling it to cut through infantry and lightly armored vehicles with ease. The sword's blade is short enough to be categorized as a short sword, which means Kaelis must get closer to his prey before he can deal his death blow. Hell Mask - Kaelis' mask is a dark eldar device known as a Hell Mask. The Hell Mask generates an aura of unnatural dread in all who surround it. Often it is enough to distract opponents from making accurate hits, leaving them open to Kaelis' single deadly strike. Menshad's Bite - Menshad's Bite is a masterfully crafted Splinter Pistol with two barrels. These two barrels can be used to fire the larger then usual Splinter pistol's duel ammunition. The two ammo crystals are impregnated with two different poisons, Liquid Agony and Final Breath, allowing Menshad's Bite to be deadlier then most splinter pistols. Quotes By About (Feel free to add your own) Category:Dark Eldar of note Category:Dark Eldar Category:Characters Category:Xeno Character Category:Mercenaries Category:Assassins